First-generation college students who stop out of college overwhelmingly turn to family members rather than academic advisors or faculty when making the decision to leave, and many make that choice entirely on their own, according to a new research brief published by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
File photo
brief, "Understanding the Needs of First-Generation College Students Who Stop Out," draws on survey and interview data collected from students who stopped out during the fall 2022 term at four Hispanic Serving Institutions in California. The findings paint a portrait of students navigating some of the most consequential decisions of their academic lives with minimal guidance from the institutions that enrolled them.
The stakes are significant. More than 40 million Americans have some college credit but no degree, according to National Student Clearinghouse data cited in the report. First-generation students — defined as those whose parents did not earn a bachelor's degree — make up roughly half of the nation's undergraduate population and face disproportionate risks of leaving before completing a credential. A recent Common App report found that even first-generation students with strong academic preparation and more resources are about twice as likely as their continuing-generation peers to not earn a bachelor's degree within six years.
Among the 55 stopped-out students surveyed for the study, more than 70 percent identified familial responsibilities, financial considerations, and other personal challenges as factors in their decision to leave. Another 22 percent cited employment reasons.
One student profiled in the report, identified by the pseudonym Ted, described a "slow fizzle" out of college driven by debt from car accidents, an inability to secure financial aid, and an unwillingness to take on more loans. Another student, Silvia, left after the birth of her second child when she could no longer find adequate childcare coverage.
Employment conflicts proved similarly intractable. Dale, an older student at a two-year college, told researchers that an inconsistent work schedule simply couldn't be reconciled with his class schedule. "I still have bills I have to pay, so I have to work," he said.
Beyond financial and family pressures, the study found that feelings of isolation and disconnection from campus life frequently compounded students' decisions to leave. Six of the ten students interviewed described relationships with college staff and peers as largely transactional rather than relational — centered on coursework and requirements rather than genuine connection.
Monica, a traditional-aged student who left a two-year college, said the experience of online learning left her feeling cut off. "My experience was mostly online, so I didn't really have a connection with anybody," she told researchers.
For Ally, a four-year college student who felt pressured by family into a particular program of study, the social isolation was immediate and jarring. "From the very beginning, I felt very alone," she said, describing the experience of commuting to campus without a social anchor.
Perhaps the study's most striking finding concerns students' help-seeking behavior — or the lack of it. Only 7 percent of surveyed students indicated they turned to a college advisor when considering stopping out. No student in the survey identified a faculty member as a source of support.
One third of respondents said they turned to parents, and one fourth consulted a spouse or partner. But critically, the report notes that even those conversations typically occurred after the decision had already been made. "Most interviewed students did not have extensive discussions with the individuals in their network when deciding to stop out," the researchers write. "Their decision to stop out was largely made on their own."
Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents did not indicate turning to anyone at all.
The researchers also found a troubling pattern of self-blame. Several students appeared to internalize their struggles — financial, academic, or personal — as personal failures rather than systemic ones. Peyton, a part-time student working full time who struggled with an asynchronous online math course, framed her academic difficulty as her own shortcoming. Without a faculty member or advisor to challenge that narrative, she stopped out rather than risk a failing grade.
The report's authors — Andrea Lopez Salazar, Nicole Mora, Catherine Rivas, and Hoori Santikian Kalamkarian — offer a series of recommendations for college leaders and practitioners.
They call on institutions to strengthen early dialogue with students about their academic and career goals, arguing that advisors should regularly ask students whether their program of study still fits and whether they intend to return the following semester. They also urge faculty to take a more active role in connecting students to support services, suggesting that even lightweight interventions — such as standardized syllabus language encouraging students to meet with an advisor — could make a meaningful difference for students who have limited campus presence.
The researchers further recommend that colleges adopt a more nuanced understanding of stop-out, framing it not as disengagement but as a deliberate response to competing pressures that may ultimately lead students back to college when they are more prepared. The report notes that 38 percent of surveyed students said they planned to return, though they were uncertain when. Seven of the ten students interviewed expressed similar intentions.
Finally, the authors call for proactive reengagement initiatives targeting students who do not return. None of the students surveyed reported receiving any outreach from their institution after stopping out.
"Colleges can strive to be more intentional about creating a culture of care where students know they matter, even if they have left the college," the researchers write.
The study was conducted as part of a larger three-year project examining the social networks of first-generation students at two community colleges and two four-year institutions in California. Funding was provided by the Crimsonbridge Foundation.
